Chris Elsberry: Cook leaves long legacy of success

Published 8:18 pm, Saturday, June 8, 2013

FAIRFIELD -- He lived right down the street in Black Rock, and if Don Cook was going to take one last job, this might as well be it.

Cook had just spent seven years first bringing the University of Hartford's athletic programs to Division I status and then establishing them in the America East Conference. Now, Sacred Heart University -- tiny, quiet, Division II Sacred Heart -- was looking to replace Dave Bike as athletic director. Bike wanted to concentrate solely on his other job -- men's basketball coach. So Cook submitted his resume.

"We were doing a search and right in our own backyard was Don," Barquinero said. "He had Division I experience, as everyone knows, at Fairfield U and Hartford. And Don came and joined us and helped us navigate through that continued expansion and, most importantly, helped us navigate through that Division I landscape."

Cook, who played and coached baseball at Fairfield, came to Sacred Heart in 1992 and now, almost 20 years later, he's saying goodbye to a career that's spanned five decades as coach and administrator. On July 1, Cook is going to step aside as executive director of intercollegiate athletics and hand the baton to Bobby Valentine.

"This is going to give me an opportunity to start devoting some of my quality time to other interests in my life that I haven't been able to do for a long time," Cook, who's 72, said recently. "I have grandchildren in Charlotte (N.C.). There are times when I think I haven't seen my grandson (George) since he was 4 and he's going to be 13. My daughter (Courtney) is a surgeon and she has a lot of responsibility down there. I have a crazy life up here with basketball and football and whatever and it's so hard to even get together for a short weekend. At least now I can control one half of the relationship. That's an aspect of it I'm really looking forward to."

Not only did Cook lead the Pioneers from the Division II ranks to Division I status, he's also molded the entire athletic program -- an incredible 31 sports overall -- into a championship-caliber organization.

"We have accomplished an incredible amount as a young, Division I institution," Barquinero said.

"We've won five consecutive (Commissioner's) Cups," Cook said, "but for me, I'm just so pleased and relieved that so many kids have moved on and graduated and become wonderful adults and responsible citizens. When I first announced my retirement, I was hearing from players that I coached back in 1965, '66. They remember things that I've long forgotten. I was very touched by that."

But the wins and the success are nothing compared to the leadership and friendship that Cook established with his coaches since his arrival.

"The numbers are one thing ... the quality is another," said former men's basketball coach Bike, who just retired. "The respect he's shown to the coaches ... Don was never there to hinder coaches, he was there to help them."

Especially in the early days as the Pioneers were making the transition to Division I.

"The timing was perfect for Don to come to Sacred Heart when he did," said former women's basketball coach Ed Swanson, who left last week to become the new women's coach at William and Mary. "He was really the only one on campus with any Division I experience, and that went all the way down from the presidents to our coaches. He was a great leader in regards to how he handled everything.

"He was a gentlemen's athletic director, that's the truth. He was a mentor to some, a father to some, a grandfather to others. All his experiences from Fairfield to Hartford to here, we were real lucky to have him."

"If you look at the university 20 years ago as compared to today, the changes have been tremendous," Giaquinto said. "Don was a pro. He'd been through it and he's a class guy, a brilliant guy, and when you have those two things going for you, you're going to be successful. Don handled everything that was thrown at him. It was a tough time for coaches but we battled through it."

Soon, a new chapter in Sacred Heart athletics will begin. But the book of success was written by Don Cook.

"When I first came here as the interim (president), Don said to me, `I'm thinking of retiring.' That was two years ago," SHU president John Petillo said. "And I let it sit for a while and a year went by and we were at the NEC presidents meeting and he said it again, and I let it go. But it's time now.

"I want to thank you, not only what you've done for us but what you've done for intercollegiate sports. You have brought character and dignity to the university."